


A Different Side of Me

by Laurana117



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Biphobia, Bisexual Loki, Gay Thor, M/M, Shakespeare, Theatre
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-13 23:24:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4541427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laurana117/pseuds/Laurana117
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki is a high school student who always minds his own business. But when his teachers catch him using his phone too many times at school he is enrolled in honors drama against his will and cast in a Shakespearian play. He and the director Thor don't really get along at first. But Loki will have to make do with his surroundings if he wants to maintain his 4.0. </p>
<p>High school AU featuring Thor as a theatre snob and Loki as Loki.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This happened without my permission. I swear. But anyway, what better way to celebrate back to school than with a high school AU? I hope everyone enjoys.

“Yeah, I can give you cash for the car. I promise. Eight hundred, yeah. Where do you want to meet? There? Okay fine. I’m going to bring my mechanic to look it over.” Loki was saying into his cell phone.

Loki was hiding in the hall at his school. Cell phones were not allowed and neither was buying cars. Students were supposed to pay attention in class. But Loki didn’t care about that. He already knew everything his teachers were teaching him and right now he wanted to get the best deal on this car.

“How does it sound?” Bucky Barnes, Loki’s friend and mechanic asked from his locker.

Loki gave him a thumbs up. “We’ll get to see it today.” He mouthed.

Bucky smiled.

Loki and Bucky had been buying and flipping cars for a year. Ever since they were sophomores. Loki took care of the business end, while Bucky took care of the cars and together they split the profits. It was lucrative some months, and a black hole other months. Loki had to work a part time job so that he had extra money to supplement when they went into debt occasionally.

But that was happening less and less and Loki was starting to like flipping cars.

That didn’t mean that his teachers did. All of Loki’s teachers were tired of him staring at his phone during discussions and surfing StansList during the day looking for car listings. But Loki had to make a decent side income.

Loki knew he was being an idiot making a phone call at school. But this one listing was a _steal_ and he and Bucky knew they had to have it.

It was all going well until Mr. Summers stepped around the corner.

“Mr. Laufeyson. Cell phones are not allowed at school.” The guy’s bland voice floated up from his glasses.

Loki grinned. “I know! Haha, I just needed to talk to my Dad about something.”

Mr. Summers ignored Loki as he reached out and took the phone and held it up to his ear. “Who is this?” He asked.

Loki watched as Mr. Summers grew angrier and then pressed end call. “Mr. Laufeyson. Please follow me to the office.”

Loki had to watch Bucky laughing at his locker. He flipped him off before he followed the angry teacher to the principal’s office.

“I don’t know how to properly punish you.” Dr. Xavier said after they had gathered all of Loki’s teachers. “It seems that this ‘business’ of yours is dominating your life.”

Loki had his arms crossed and his frown in place. “It’s how I make money.” He said sullenly.

“That’s understandable. We’ve all been there. But you’re only sixteen years old. Your studies should be your main focus.” Dr. Xavier said gently.

“I have perfect grades.” Loki argued. “So I’m doing well enough.”

Dr. Xavier looked over Loki’s grades nodding. “It’s true.” He said. “It doesn’t feel right taking your phone away. I feel like the problem runs deeper than that. I think you need something to get you more involved here at school. You have the rest of your life to spend on things like this business. You should have something to tie you here.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “I’m part of the chess club.” He added helpfully. Like the chess club was actually a commitment. They meet once a month _maybe_ and hardly ever do anything. Perfect for Loki.

“I have an idea.” Dr. Strange said. Ignoring Loki’s chess club statement.

Loki looked up and paled. Dr. Strange was not one of his teachers. He was the drama teacher and he hadn’t left Loki alone for two weeks. He had wanted Loki to audition for the school play and Loki hadn’t. Loki wasn’t into Shakespeare. Loki didn’t know how Strange had gotten in here. This was supposed to be a meeting between Loki and his teachers.

“Please.” Dr. Xavier said.

“Enroll Loki in theatre. We would love to have him as part of our fall production.” Dr. Strange said. “I haven’t found a student here other than Loki who I think would make a good Benedick.”

Loki let his head fall in his hands. He doesn’t believe in God, so he doesn’t have anyone to pray to end this.

“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea!” Dr. Xavier clapped his hands. “It’s settled then. Loki will enroll in drama and be part of the fall production. Your Father and Brothers will be so proud.”

Loki stood up numbly and tried to hide the fact that he wanted to throw up as Dr. Strange led him down the hall to the drama room.

“This is so exciting! With your looks and your voice you’ll make the _best_ Benedick!” Dr. Strange said. “You’ve just saved my play!”

“That’s great.” Loki said. They walked down the hall toward the drama room and the decorations turned decidedly thespian. It made Loki want to puke.

Eventually they reached the room and Dr. Strange swept in like a flamboyant nightmare and Loki followed him.

“Hello class!” Dr. Strange said. “We have a new student!”

“But Dr. Strange, this is honors drama! We can’t have new students.” A girl said.

“An exception was made! Everyone, please welcome Loki Laufeyson into our class.” Dr. Strange said.

Loki stepped forward and wanted to die. He knew these people. They were the ‘oh so cultured’ drama kids. They thought they were better than everyone in the school because they liked to read Shakespeare and dress up in funny outfits. They were also just so _dramatic._

There were actual grumbles around the room and Loki sighed. He knew they didn’t want him here. He wasn’t an actor. He dressed like a homeless person most of the time and didn’t eat meat. He wasn’t extremely popular at his school.

“Dr. Strange are you sure this was the best decision?” Thor Odinson asked.

Loki glared at the kid. Thor Odinson was so pretentious. He had come out as gay the year before and the whole school had rallied around him. He’d been the first openly gay athlete at the school and that had been really great and everything. Then he’d gone and quit the football team in order to do drama full time and he’d become this hotshot thespian.

Thor started dressing like a gay hipster too. Whereas before he’d worn what the jocks wear. Now he wears these super tight pants and trendy looking shirts with these unfortunate looking glasses. And he’d let his hair grow out.

In short, Thor had really started embracing his feminine side and all the gay stereotypes. Which was fine. That didn’t bother Loki in the slightest. Just Loki was a little jealous. He was openly bisexual and was treated with a lot less respect than Thor.

“I’m sure about this Thor.” Dr. Strange said as he put his hand on Loki’s shoulder. “We were having so much trouble finding someone to be Benedick. And now we’ve found him.”

Everyone’s jaws in the room dropped almost simultaneously.

“You can’t be serious.” Sif said. “Loki hasn’t even acted before! And you want to make him a main character?”

“We have a lot of time to teach Loki.” Dr. Strange said cheerfully. “He will do great!”

Loki was all but pushed into one of the chairs and handed a book. The title read _Much Ado About Nothing_ and Loki sighed. He was going to need acetaminophen at this rate.

“Now Loki, over the weekend you’ll need to read over this and start getting a feel for your character.” Dr. Strange said. “I casted you as Benedick. He’s the love interest of our heroin Beatrice.”

Loki flipped the book open and grimaced. “Got it.” He said uneasily. With all these pretentious drama kids staring at him he was starting to feel the pressure.

“What acting experience do you have?” Steve Rogers one of the skinny drama kids asked.

“None.” Loki said flippantly as he scanned pages. “I lie to my grandma sometimes. But I don’t know if that counts.”

Loki looked up into Steve Roger’s scandalized face. “It doesn’t count.” Steve said.

Thor was crossing his arms and staring out one of the windows. His handsome face crunched up in concentration. He was probably thinking about creative ways to get Loki to ‘quit’ drama. Well the jokes on him. Loki was being forced into this.

“Did I take your part?” Loki asked with a smirk after he poked Thor in the side.

Thor bristled. “No. We didn’t have a Benedick before. I’m the director.” He said.

“I thought Dr. Strange directed the plays.” Loki frowned.

“This time he’s letting me. Since I did so well last year.” Thor looked so proud of himself.

“Well. Hopefully you’re good enough to teach a newbie.” Loki said as he looked down at the book. “Because I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Thor nodded and looked like he was getting ready for war. Not drama class. “This will be a team effort for sure. But I won the state tournament last year. I can do this.”

Loki was a little insulted that Thor compared teaching Loki how to act to winning a football championship. “I don’t think I’ll be that bad!” Loki defended himself. “You never know I could secretly be really good at acting.”

“I don’t think you being too good at acting will be a problem.” Sif said as she sat in the seat next to Loki. She held a hand out to him. “I’m Sif. I’ll be playing Beatrice, your love interest.”

Loki nodded. Sif was one of those really intense people Loki hated talking to. She was always going a hundred miles an hour and it kind of freaked Loki out.

Loki’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he fished it out to see a text from Bucky.

_B: Dude, where are you?_

Loki looked around and texted back, _L: Drama room. They enrolled me in honors drama._

_B: WTF_

Loki smiled down at the screen before Thor’s huge hand took the phone away.

“We’re supposed to be reading the play not texting our…” Thor frowned at the screen when he saw Bucky’s name. “Friend.” He said before he slipped Loki’s phone into his own pocket.

“Did you just steal my phone?” Loki was flabbergasted. “Give it back!”

“You can have it back after class.” Thor said as he picked his own play up to read. “You have more important things to be worried about.”

“I’ll decide that for myself.” Loki said as he threw himself at Thor in an attempt to steal his phone back.

Thor evidently hadn’t lost any of his muscles as he expertly restrained Loki and put him back in his chair and handed him the book. Sif was laughing.

Loki stewed until class was over and then followed Thor into the hall.

“Can I have my phone back now? Come on I feel like a little kid.”

“Yeah.” Thor handed the phone back. “So what made you want to join drama? You’ve never been interested in it before.”

“Maybe I had a change of heart.” Loki said as he checked his phone.

Thor’s face was unimpressed.

Loki sighed. “Fine! Strange caught me on my phone in the hall and instead of suspending me for the violation they enrolled me in honors drama.” Loki said. “Strange has had his eye on me for weeks.”

Thor looked confused. “That’s an odd punishment.” He said then he glowered at Loki’s phone. “You should try and use that less. Life really opens up when you unplug and enjoy it.”

“Okay I don’t need to hear your hipster life messages.” Loki tapped Thor with the phone. “I make my money with this thing. It’s important.”

“Make sure you read over the script.” Thor said meaningfully. “On Monday I’ll be testing to see how you are at acting. Have a good weekend.”

Loki frowned at him. “I’ll have whatever kind of weekend I want.” He pouted.

Thor just laughed. “Whatever.” He said before he walked away to join his pretentious friends.

Loki wasn’t sure if he would be liking honors drama.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which first impressions may be disproved.

Loki was not prepared for honors drama on Monday. Truth be told, he didn’t think he would ever be ready for honors drama. But especially not today when they were all going to watch him pretend to act.

“Alright Loki. We’re going to start with Benedick’s first scene.” Thor said as he sat in his director’s seat. He had the script in his lap and his ridiculous glasses on and it wasn’t fair that he got to torture Loki.

“Might I say that you’re looking very fashionable.” Loki said.

Thor raised an eyebrow at him. Like he was saying don’t even try to distract me. “Thank you. You look like you slept on a park bench.”

Loki looked down at his outfit. It wasn’t even that bad! Thor was just being dramatic. Loki was in an old pair of black skinny jeans that were missing one of the back pockets as well as a beat up black vneck and his scuffed boots.

“That’s just cruel Thor!” Loki whined.

“Okay Homeless Benedick. Say your first line.” Thor said with a grin.

Loki looked down at his script. Then he got into a stance a Shakespearian would take and said his line.

_“Were you in doubt, sir, that you would ask her?”_

Loki looked around the room and saw… grimaces.

Sif had her book pressed against her face like she couldn’t even stomach what Loki just said. Steve was gaping at him and Thor was eerily silent.

“I’m not going to mince words Loki. That was terrible.” Thor said.

“Oh come on!” Loki said. “What did I do wrong?”

“Everything.”

“He said the right words!” Fandral defended Loki.

Loki pointed at him. “See! Everything wasn’t wrong! God you guys are just so _dramatic.”_

“Benedick is supposed to be confident and witty! You sounded constipated!” Thor said. “Did you read the play over the weekend?”

“Of course I did!” Loki said. “I don’t know how to sound like that though! I was trying to sound meaningful like everyone in Shakespeare.”

“You sound all choked. Try it differently this time.”

Loki sighed. Day one and he already wanted to cry.

_“Were you in doubt, sir, that you would ask her?”_

Thor’s face was all screwed up. “Have you seen any of the film adaptions of this?” He asked.

“No. I’m too busy.” Loki said. “And I don’t have Netflix.”

“Well that explains it!” Steve said. “He _isn’t_ human!”

“I have better things to do than sit on my computer and stream television.” Loki said.

“Alright. I have two different versions at my house. When are you free to watch them?” Thor asked.

“Really?” Loki asked. “Is it important that I watch them?”

“Yes. It will help you if you see other people portray Benedick.” Thor said. “Perspective.”

Loki rubbed his eyes. “Okay. I’m not working tomorrow. So I can watch them then.”

“Great!” Thor clapped his hands together in a flamboyant gesture. “Come with me after class, we’ll have a movie party. Everyone is invited!”

There were actual cheers. Thor called Sif up to say some of her lines. Loki was hoping he would get to sneak away but Thor called him over and made him sit next to him.

“Watch Sif. She’s perfecting her Beatrice tone every day. You’ll develop your own soon, but until you do you should watch everyone and get your own ideas.” Thor said.

Loki wondered why Thor was going above and beyond the call of duty in order to help Loki. But when he caught Thor grimacing at his shoes he frowned. So what? Loki had worn the shoes before! Not everyone could have fancy shoes like Thor Odinson.

So Loki sat in a rickety chair next to Thor for the remainder of the class. And whenever Loki pulled his phone out Thor snapped him with one of his rubber band bracelets. “Pay attention!” Thor would admonish with a laugh.

After class Loki was gathering his things when Thor came up to him.

“What did I do _now?”_ Loki asked.

“Nothing!” Thor said as he held both hands up. “I just wanted to tell you that you did well today. I’m sorry if we were too rough, we’re used to riffing each other. And you did very well for your first day.” His smile was so genuine it hurt. “I know you don’t want to be here, but the fact that you’re trying means a lot.”

Huh. Loki hadn’t expected that. “Thank you.” He said awkwardly.

Thor clapped a hand on his shoulder. “See you tomorrow for our movie party. I promise it will help.”

Loki watched Thor walk away with a ‘what the fuck’ feeling. That hadn’t sounded pretentious at all!

Bucky laughed like a maniac the next day at lunch. “I can’t believe it! You! Reading Shakespeare! A _movie_ party!” He was doubled over at their lunch table laughing. “That’s rich!”

“Haha. Rub it in.” Loki said with a pout. “I can’t help it! If I don’t do well in this drama class it’ll fuck up my grades! I can’t afford that. So I have to perform in their little play.”

Bucky’s face was red from laughing. “ _Oh my god!”_ He said. “I’m gonna get to see you all dolled up! This is gonna be so worth it! I’ll shell out five dollars for this train wreck!”

Loki scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah. It’s going to be bad. What I can’t believe is that everyone just doesn’t seem to care. If I were them I would be throwing a fit if the teacher just shoved this random kid into their play. I mean, I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Dude. If I got to see you make a fool of yourself trying to recite Shakespeare every day I would keep you around. Speaking of which, can I go to play practice?”

“I’ll have to ask Thor. He’s the slave driver of this whole thing.”

“Oh that guy? He’s awesome! You hardly ever see football players turn gay drama kids!” Bucky said. “He’s my hero.”

“I think he was always gay.” Loki said. “You don’t just turn gay.”

“Oh man gimme some deets. Does he throw footballs at people if they say their lines wrong?”

Loki shuddered. “That would be the worst. Because he would only be throwing footballs at me.”

“Hey!” Steve Rogers butted in. His skinny arms were planted on his hips and he was glaring at Bucky. “Thor would never throw footballs at anyone. He’s nice unlike you.”

Loki covered his mouth and stifled laughter as Bucky looked at Steve with wide eyes. “It was just a joke.” Bucky said lamely.

“Well you should make that more clear.” Steve fumed. “Or else I’ll teach you a lesson!” He held his fist up at Bucky.

Loki laughed outright. What a twerp! “What brings you here Steve?” Loki asked.

“I was going to ask you if you wanted to sit with us. Since you’re in honors drama you might as well start eating with us. You’ll be with us nonstop in a few weeks.” Steve said kindly. “Your acting will get better once you get to know us.”

Loki blinked. “Can I bring Bucky?”

Steve looked Bucky over. “Only if he promises to be nice. I don’t like bullies.”

Then Steve walked back to the drama table while Bucky hyperventilated.

“Who is that?” Bucky whispered at Loki.

“That’s Steve.” Loki said. “He’s in drama with me.”

“He’s really hot.”

Loki looked over at Steve. “I guess so. If you’re into skinny little gay kids.” Loki had never liked being with someone thinner than him.

“Let’s go sit with them.” Bucky said excitedly.

“Is this love?” Loki asked mischievously.

“Shut it. Hamlet.” Bucky said as he skipped across the cafeteria.

“That’s the wrong play stupid.”

Bucky managed to snag a seat across from Steve where he made himself comfortable. Loki sat next to Sif and pulled a bag of carrots out of his backpack. He rolled his eyes when Bucky started trying to make small talk with Steve.

Loki slid his phone open and looked through StansList to see if there were any good car listings.

“What have I said about living in the moment?” Thor asked as he waved his hand over the phone.

Loki stuck his tongue out at him. “I can do whatever I want at lunch. We’re not practicing now.”

“No we’re not. But you should try to get a little more comfortable around us.” Thor said. “It’ll help your acting.”

Loki shrugged. “I’m comfortable.”

Thor just shook his head fondly. “What do you think you’ll want to eat during the movies today?” He asked.

Loki crinkled his face up. “I’ll be good for a few hours.” Loki said. “I’m already taking up your time, I don’t want to eat your food.”

Thor gave him an unimpressed face. “A bag of carrots is not a lunch. And I’ll be feeding you today. I can’t have my star actor wasting away.”

Loki stared. _Star actor?_ Where did that come from?

“I’m pretty sure Benedick would be skinny after fighting in a war.” Loki said as he crunched on one of his carrots.

“He wouldn’t be too skinny since he would have muscles to maintain.” Thor argued. “And according to Beatrice he eats a lot. You should try it.”

Loki and Thor argued for a few more minutes and before they knew it the bell for lunch was ringing and they had to go to class. Loki hadn’t been so involved in arguing with someone like that in a while. He’d lost a good ten minutes trying to prove Thor wrong.

After school and after another horrible play practice Loki was following Thor to his car.

“So no one could make it to the movie party except for me?” Loki asked.

“Yeah everyone’s busy. Or they’ve already seen it.” Thor said.

“Such good little Thespians.” Loki muttered.

“Hey! You’re one of us.” Thor reminded.

“Oh don’t remind me. I didn’t exactly want to be one of you.” Loki said. “Nor did I think it would involve making fun of my outfits.”

“I’m pretty sure even the chess club would have something to say about those shoes with that shirt.” Thor said. “It’s a real tragedy. Forget Shakespeare.”

“Haha very funny.”

Before Loki knew it they were walking into Thor’s house. It was a really nice fancy huge structure. Of course Thor’s family would be rich. It made sense.

Loki followed Thor inside until they were in a living room. “Make yourself comfortable.” Thor said. “I’ll get snacks.”

Loki sat down and pulled a notebook out. He might as well take some notes.

Thor came back with way too much food. Popcorn and chips and candy and cookies. “You’re going to give me diabetes.” Loki complained as he held a sleeve of cookies up.

Thor just laughed. “Who says it’s all for you?” Then Thor spotted Loki’s notepad. “Oh! Good idea! You can take some notes to help you.”

Thor settled down and started the movie. “This is a good one.” He whispered to Loki. “There’s a bit of nudity here at the beginning though…”

There was a lot of nudity. Loki didn’t think he’d seen that many white butts in a long time. He looked over at Thor and collapsed into a fit of laughter.

“What!” Thor said even though his face was flushed with embarrassment.

“Nothing! It’s just that I think that was the gayest I’ve ever seen you.” Loki laughed.

Thor pursed his lips. “It’s not my fault!” He said. “I’m a teenage homo-sexual man. I’m going to look at butts!”

Loki laughed even harder. “Whatever you say!” He laughed.

They settled down and watched the movie. Loki took good notes on some of the Benedick’s mannerisms and behavior that he might want to emulate. He didn’t have much of an idea of what he wanted to do exactly. But Thor was right about the movie helping him brainstorm.

After the first movie Thor was telling Loki about some of Benedick’s behaviors when a lady walked into the room.

“Hello?” She said when she saw Loki.

“Hello.” Loki waved.

“Hi Mom, this is Loki. He’s going to star in my play.” The explained. “I was showing him some movies to help his acting.”

The woman looked Loki over. “Okay. Well dinner is starting if he wants any.” Then she left.

“Do you want to eat dinner with us?”

“You know I’m good.” Loki stretched. “I’ll just head home now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

While they were riding in the car Loki broke the silence and asked, “So can I ask something?”

“Sure.” Thor said. His gaze was on the road.

“Why didn’t you throw a bigger fit about Strange putting me in your play? If I were you I would have flipped out about the teacher putting a plebeian in my big production.”

Thor laughed. “Well I was pretty upset at first. But then you started showing real effort. And even right now, coming to my house and taking notes. That shows me that you’re trying. And that’s all I can ask from one of my actors. As long as you keep the effort up I’ll do everything to make sure you do well in our fall production.”

Loki stared at Thor. That was such a nice answer.

Maybe Thor Odinson wasn’t so bad after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read nothing but Pinto fanfiction for three days and this story was born.

After Loki’s movie party with Thor Loki’s acting got a little better. But it was far from perfect.

Thor and everyone else seemed to really like making fun of Loki’s attempts at acting.

Today they were having Loki say a really long line of Benedick’s. Beatrice had just trash talked Benedick at a party and Loki was supposed to be upset about it.

_“O, she misused me past the endurance of a block! An oak but with one green leaf on it would have answered her.”_

“Cut.” Thor said. “Loki, you’re supposed to sound angry. Upset. You’re secretly fond of Beatrice so when she said all this about you it hurt your feelings.”

“But Benedick doesn’t want to fall in love.” Loki argued. “Shouldn’t he keep a bit of his roguish charm about him even now?”

“Nope. I don’t think Benedick is supposed to be roguish.” Thor laughed. “Try it again, only this time speak with more emotion.”

Loki sighed and did it again.

Thor didn’t look better afterward. “Come on Loki. Have you ever felt a little rejected by a girl you like? Channel the feelings you had then.”

“Please.” Loki said with a flourish. “I’ve never been rejected. The women fall head over heels to date me.”

Loki could hear Sif laughing in the background. He glared in her direction.

“Then think about sometime when something you wanted went wrong. Something you were fond of turned out to be bad for you.” Thor said seriously.

Loki sighed and tried to think of when he had felt like that. He thought about when he found out that animals had to die in order to make meat for him to eat. How betrayed and sickened he had felt. He channeled the betrayal and disgust he had felt then into the next time he said the line.

Loki looked up and Thor was smiling. “That was perfect Loki.” He said with a clap. “Whatever you thought of did the trick. Good job.”

Loki smiled at Thor. “I might be getting the hang of Shakespeare.” He said cockily.

“I wouldn’t say that.” Thor said. “But you’re getting better. We’ll have to work on your range.”

Loki shook his head but took his seat next to Thor as he called Fandral up to go over lines. Loki’s phone vibrated in his pocket and Thor looked over at him. He gave Loki a look like, ‘I dare you to take the phone out’.

Loki just smirked and leaned back in his seat.

The next day was less than civil between Thor and Loki.

Loki had gone over to Bucky’s the night before and ended up spending the night. He hadn’t planned on it, and as a result had to wear the clothes he had worn to school the day before.

Luckily no one seemed to notice that Loki was wearing a repeat outfit and they left Loki alone.

Until honors drama.                                             

Thor was walking around the drama room greeting everyone and giving some advice until he saw Loki. The blonde stopped and stared when he saw Loki. Only he wasn’t doing it in a good way.

“Loki. Are you wearing the clothes you wore yesterday.”

Thor didn’t even phrase it like a question as he looked down at Loki’s outfit disdainfully.

Loki looked down at it too. It wasn’t that bad. Thor was just being a drama queen. Loki was in his favorite black skinny jeans, his old beat up combat boots and a long sleeved metal band shirt.

“No one even noticed.” Loki said.

Thor’s eyebrow shot up. “I noticed. And I can’t have my actors walking around at school like they’ve just come off the walk of shame.”

Loki actually laughed. “You think I’m on the walk of shame? I’m a high schooler! I just need to do laundry. Besides, I look fine. You’re just being dramatic like usual.”

“You look like you got dressed in a trash can!” Thor gesticulated wildly. “You’re representing _my_ play! And I want you to look good while you’re doing so!”

“I look fine!” Loki argued.

“Nope. I won’t hear any more of this nonsense.” Thor shook his head and pulled his phone out. “What are you doing Saturday?”

“Working? I don’t know!” Loki said. “Why?”

“We’re going shopping.” Thor said. “I’m going to get you some better clothes.”

Loki opened his mouth in surprise. “Thanks, but that’s not necessary.”

Thor crossed his arms and gave Loki the unamused look. “I think it is.”

“What did my clothes ever do to you?”

Thor thought it over. “Existing for a start.”

Thor and Loki both turned when they heard Sif clear her throat. She gave them both a look. “Please focus on the task at hand.” She asked them. Loki felt a blush at how their words were probably taken out of context.

Before Loki knew it he was riding in Thor’s car to the mall on Saturday. He was grumbling to himself and Thor seemed cheerful like usual.

“So Loki, who is your style icon?” Thor asked seriously.

Loki made a face at Thor. “My what?”

“Your style icon. You know, the person you look at and get inspired by for your fashion. Everyone has one.” Thor said.

“I don’t have one of those. And it sounds really superfluous.” Loki said.

“You have to have _someone_ who inspired your fashion.”

“I guess I like Coco Chanel. She revolutionized fashion you know.” Loki said. “Before her women wore constricting corsets and garish dresses. But she put everyone in black.”

“I figured you liked black.” Thor grumbled. “Don’t you want to wear other colors? I think you would look good in green or blue.”

Thor parked the car and they walked into the mall together. “My cousin works at this store.” Thor said as he steered Loki into a department store. “I get twenty percent off, so this will be cheap.”

“But Thor! I don’t want to give in to this corporate hierarchy.” Loki whined.

Thor looked incredulous. “Are you for real?” He asked.

Loki grinned at him. “Let’s go to the clearance.” Loki said. “I like to save money.”

Thor grabbed his arm and gave him a fond look. “How about you don’t shop clearance for once. I’ll pay for half of this don’t worry.”

Loki glared. “I don’t need your help paying for clothing!” He said spitefully.

“I know. But I’m going to anyway.” Thor smiled. “You’re going to look so good when I’m done with you.”

Loki followed Thor into the men’s section. Thor stood back and looked at what Loki was currently wearing. “Hmm.” Thor said as he stroked his chin in thought. The ridiculous glasses slid down his nose as he looked at Loki’s outfit. “I hate those pants.”

Loki was wearing his favorite black skinny jeans without the back pocket. “These are my favorite pants!” Loki said.

“They look horrible and make you look like you live off of free soup.” Thor said. “Which I know isn’t true, but your pants say otherwise.”

Thor pulled a new pair of black skinny jeans from a shelf. “No way.” Loki said. “They have rhinestones on them.”

“You’ll look good in them! Besides, they’ll make you look like you have an ass.” Thor said.

“I have one!” Loki said in embarrassment. He looked in a nearby mirror and his face was completely red.

“You don’t! You’re so skinny. Trust me, I would know.” Thor said. “At least try them on.”

Loki grumbled and took the pants out of Thor’s hands. “Get a pair without the rocks.” Loki said.

They moved onto shirts and Thor was searching though the racks. He held up a green long sleeved shirt and beamed at Loki.

“No!”

“Come on! Why don’t you wear some color? It would make you look a lot livelier.”

“Because laundry is so easy now.” Loki said. “Everything I own is black, so I just stick it all in the washer together. And then I dry it.”

Thor looked offended. “Are you serious? You dress all drab so that laundry is easier? I can’t believe it. Not even Fandral is that bad!” Thor said. “I honestly never expected something like that from you.”

“Why would you expect anything from me? We only met recently.” Loki said.

Thor picked up a fancy looking black dress shirt. He saw the sale tag on it and looked evil. “We’ve been in school together for years.” Thor said with a little confusion. “You’re the smartest person in our class. Everyone knows that. I guess I expected more from the class genius.”

Loki hadn’t known that Thor knew who he was other than the kid who hangs out with Bucky all day.

Loki found himself shrugging and looking down at the clothes. “I spend less time on laundry so I can do other things. Like my homework. I have to do both late at night because my brothers are really loud during the day and if I do my laundry then they’ll want me to do theirs and it doesn’t seem fair.”

“Oh.” Thor said. “I guess it makes sense. But we can still get you a decent wardrobe.”

Thor pulled a black sweater out and Loki noticed that it had lace covered see through bits around the shoulder. “What the hell is this?” He asked as he held it up. “That wouldn’t keep me warm!”

“You’re supposed to wear a coat on top of it if it’s really cold.” Thor explained.

Once they had accumulated a decent pile of clothes Thor shoved Loki into a dressing room. “Come out and show me when you have it on.” He said.

Loki did as he was told. He put the new pair of black skinny jeans on and a nice cotton black shirt with rolled up sleeves and a patterned pocket.

Loki stepped out and let Thor see it.

“Wow.” Thor looked genuinely impressed. “That looks so much better.” He said.

“You think so?” Loki asked as he looked down at himself. He had to say though, Thor had a good eye. The outfit made Loki look put together in a way his other clothing didn’t quite get.

Thor nodded and continued staring at Loki. “Absolutely. You need to get those pants. I will force you to buy them. They make your legs look super long. And that shirt is a miracle worker.”

Loki hadn’t heard anyone give him so many compliments all at once. “Thanks.” He said awkwardly.

He went back and tried on another outfit from Thor.

This one was another pair of black skinny jeans with a dressier top. It was a short sleeved one with a collar and buttons. Loki thought it looked a little stupid but Thor promised that it would look good.

Loki stepped out of the dressing room and Thor gaped.

“You look great.” Thor said seriously. He got up out of his chair and walked around Loki inspecting all angles. “Really. I thought the black on black would look drab, but you look like a Parisian. You look really sophisticated.”

Loki grinned and looked at himself in the mirror. The shirt didn’t look stupid on him like it had on the hanger. In fact it looked really good.

“Do I look like someone you would date?” Loki asked mischievously. “Instead of like a homeless guy like usual?”

He expected Thor to blush or something. But instead Thor just nodded gravely. “In the interest of full disclosure though.” Thor scratched his head sheepishly. “From a gay guy to a friend, you are really attractive.”

Loki felt his blush returning. Thor thought he was attractive. What. Thor, the big muscly drama kid found Loki attractive.

“Well your bi-sexual friend is flattered.” Loki smiled. Loki figured that Thor should know Loki’s sexuality.

Loki watched the surprise flitter across Thor’s face. Apparently Thor thought Loki was straight. That’s funny. Then he looked down sheepishly again.

“Ah.” Thor said.

Loki grinned and looked back at himself in the mirror. He hadn’t ever been concerned by material things like clothing. Not when he had good books to read and terrible cars to sell. But Thor made him feel confident somehow.

The rest of the outfits were all hit and miss. And at the end Loki had a decent pile of clothing. Thor managed to twist his arm into buying a green shirt. But only barely.

After they checked out Loki followed Thor to the food court. He was carrying the shopping bags because Thor had paid for a lot of the clothes and Loki didn’t know how to feel about it.

“This has been so nice of you.” Thor beamed from beside Loki. “None of my friends ever want to go shopping with me. They think I’m too controlling and opinionated.”

Loki laughed. “Well. I don’t know what I’m doing so it was fine. Plus my day isn’t complete until you tell me I look like a homeless person.”

Thor laughed at that. “You’re going to look so good in your new clothes.” Then he turned to face Loki completely. “What would you like from the food court? I’ll pay. I really want a hamburger.”

“Uh… just some fries.” Loki said. “I don’t eat meat.”

“Really?” Thor crinkled his nose. “I’m learning a lot about you today. But really. I’m not feeding you only fries. Do you want a salad?”

Loki stuck his tongue out. “Eww no. I hate salads from fast food places.”

“Okay. What do you want?”

Loki looked around. Then he saw the pretzel place. “I want a pretzel.”

“Okay.”

Loki went to sit down and get them a table before a bunch of kids stole them all. It was a Saturday.

Loki sat down and pulled his phone out. Bucky had been texting him.

_B: where are you. I went to your house and B was mad cause he didn’t know where you were._

Loki sighed. He hadn’t told Byleistr where he was going.

_L: I’m shopping_

_B: You should get some toilet paper. B says you guys are out._

_L: I’m at the mall. Thor is giving me a makeover._

_B: Wut_

_B: Did someone steal your phone_

_L: no thor was just tired of me looking homeless_

_B: Ok. Anyway I just finished working on the camry so you can sell it. I left it parked outside your house and the keys are under your pillow._

_L: Thanks_

“Already on your phone?” Thor asked fondly a few minutes later as he handed Loki his pretzel and an order of fries.

“You didn’t have to get both.” Loki said as he pushed the phone back in his pocket.

Then Loki looked over and saw Thor had two burgers and guessed that it was fine.

They ate in peace for a bit and then they left.

When Thor dropped Loki off at his house he followed Loki inside. “I want to make sure you set them up so they don’t get wrinkled.” Was Thor’s excuse. But honestly Loki didn’t care. He knew by now that Thor was a clothing snob.

He led Thor into his room and sighed in relief when he saw his bed was made. Although Loki bet it looked super tacky, as it was just a mattress on the floor. Laufey hadn’t had enough money to buy a bed frame and Loki didn’t mind living like a minimalist.

Thor set the bag of clothes down and opened Loki’s closet and put the shirts on hangers and the pants in Loki’s dresser. He didn’t even look at the mattress on the floor or the stacks of books everywhere because Loki didn’t have a book case.

“You’re going to look so good in this. And this. And this.” Thor was saying as he put away each shirt.

“Thanks again.” Loki said awkwardly when Thor was done. “I haven’t gotten new clothes in forever.”

Thor seemed surprised that Loki thanked him. “You’re welcome.” He said.

He looked over at Loki’s cluttered desk and saw the massive pile of books. “You read a lot.” He said then.

“Yeah.” Loki said.

It was awkward and Loki felt like he should do something. Should he hug Thor for taking him shopping? Should he offer Thor food? But they just ate.

“Anyway, I gotta go.” Thor motioned to the door. “But I had a lot of fun. Thanks for coming with me.” He said as he stepped out of the room. “See you Monday.”

“Yeah see you Monday.” Loki said weakly. Once he saw Thor through the window getting in his car he sat on his bed.

He looked up when Helblindi was standing in the door of his room. He had a peanut butter jelly sandwich in hand. “Who was that?” He asked between bites.

“That was my friend Thor.” Loki said to his younger brother.

Helblindi looked pretty impressed. “He’s huge.” He said with wide eyes.

Ah the eloquence of youth. But Loki had to agree. “Yeah.”

“He looked nice.”

“I get it Helblindi. Go back to what you were doing.” Loki said with crossed arms.


	4. Chapter 4

On Monday they had costume fittings.

Which meant that Loki had to stand still while some girls went at him with measuring tape. Sif was next to him charming the girls measuring her.

“You’re so tiny.” One of the girls giggled as she measure Loki’s waist. “You would fit in the girl costumes.”

“Ha-ha very funny.” Loki said humorlessly.

“Be nice Loki. They’re in charge of making your costume.” Thor chided from where he was pacing. “Speaking of which, how much longer is this going to take? We need to work on Loki’s acting some more.”

“Just a few more minutes.” The girls said cheerfully.

Loki’s phone vibrated in his pocket and both the girls drew back. One of them whispered, “Is that a vibrator?”

“Oh my god.” Loki groaned and let his head fall in his hands. “It’s _my phone._ Get your heads out of the gutter.”

They just giggled. Until one of them said, “We heard Thor took you shopping. Did he pick this shirt out?”

Loki was wearing the black one with the patterned pocket. “Yeah.”

Loki pulled his phone out while the girls giggled some more and measured his waist line.

“Loki!” Thor said sharply. “Why is your phone out?”

“Good god Thor you sound like my Dad.” Loki complained.

Thor marched up to them and grabbed Loki’s phone. “You shouldn’t need this during the school day!” Thor said as he once again put it in his pocket.

Loki visibly deflated. And the girls tried to comfort him. Loki was starting to like the wardrobe people.

“You know he’s all over you because he wants you to get better.” Sif said from beside Loki. Her measurements were done and she was watching them wrap tape around Loki’s shoulders. “He cares about you.”

Loki gulped. “I know.” He said sullenly.

“Then you should try to focus more. No more phone during drama.” Sif said.

Loki sighed and rubbed his head. Thor was just really into this play. It wasn’t his fault that Loki had been thrust into this.

After practice Loki went up to Thor to get his phone back and Thor stood there awkwardly for a second before saying, “Are you doing anything on Friday night?”

Loki stared. Was Thor asking him on a date? Loki wasn’t sure about the protocol here.

“No.”

“Well uh.” Thor started as he stared at his feet and blushed. Loki tried to ignore the way it made his heart flutter. “I have a date with someone and I was wondering if you could come with me.”

That wasn’t what Loki expected. “Huh?” Loki asked dumbly.

“Normally I would ask someone else but I thought that you would do a good job.” Thor said as he rubbed at his neck. “I met this guy online and we’re going to meet up Friday night and I want to bring a friend in case he’s a creep.”

Loki blinked. “Oh.” He said. So Thor wanted him to third wheel on his date. Well. That’s certainly a first. “Are you paying?” Loki asked with crossed arms.

“Yeah. I wouldn’t drag you across town and make you pay for dinner.”

“Okay.” Loki said. “Just call me Loki ‘Third-wheel’ Laufeyson.”

Thor’s smile was breathtaking. “Thanks Loki!” He said and then gave Loki an awkward shoulder pat. Like he was thinking about hugging Loki but thought better of it.

The rest of the week passed and Loki had four more days of terrible play practice. But Loki did manage to sell a car for a lot more money than it was worth and almost skipped to the atm to deposit the cash.

On Friday Loki waited at the library until it was time for Thor to get him. He figured it would be easier that way. He told Helblindi not to wait up for him and to bother Byleistr for food.

Thor was pretty dressed up when he picked up Loki. He was in super tight jeans and a dressy shirt. His hair was up in a ponytail and he had his ridiculous glasses on like always.

Loki felt a little underdressed in his all black outfit. But when Thor picked him up he looked him over head to toe and declared him well dressed.

“So where is this romantic evening?” Loki asked as he fiddled with his phone in the passenger seat.

“Olive garden.” Thor said. “I didn’t want it to be too fancy.”

Loki raised his brows. “That’s a nice place. I love the free breadsticks. We should ask for a bag of them to go. My little brother loves them.”

“Okay.” Thor laughed.

“Oh also!” Loki remembered. “I don’t want you to start making out with your date. I’m still here. In fact let’s agree right now, there will be no kissing tonight.”

Thor nodded. “That seems fair.” He agreed.

“Then tonight won’t be terrible.” Loki said as he relaxed into the seat. Thor’s car was just so comfortable. It wasn’t fair.

“Thanks again for doing this.” Thor said. “I usually ask Fandral but he said that he doesn’t want to do it anymore. He’s cool with the whole dating a guy thing, he just doesn’t want to see it up close.”

“Ahh he doesn’t sound like any fun.” Loki teased. “So _dramatic._ I can’t stand people like that.” Loki let sarcasm color his voice while he said the last part.

“Be careful what you say Loki. You’re one of us.” Thor reminded.

Loki looked out the window and saw the restaurant. “Not by choice!” He said with resolve. He was holding onto it. He didn’t consider himself a real drama student. Not when he had been forced into the class and forced into their play.

Thor just grinned at him. “Not by choice.” He conceded. “But you’re still one of us.”

Loki followed Thor into the restaurant with his backpack.

They were seated at a table big enough for four and Loki opted to sit on Thor’s left. He figured Thor’s date could sit across from him and hold his hand while Loki stuck his nose in _Crime and Punishment._

Thor ordered waters for both of them while Loki checked StansList real quick.

“Won’t you try to pay attention?” Thor asked with a fond smile. “This is my date you know. This could be my last first date.”

Loki levelled Thor a look. “You’re seventeen Thor. You’ll have a lot of hot guys asking you out on dates in college.”

Then Loki saw something glistening on Thor’s lips. “Are you wearing lip gloss?”

Thor blushed instantly and looked away. “No!” He said quickly.

Loki just laughed. “It’s fine! It just seems a little out of character. You must really like this guy.”

Thor glared down at the table. “I wear it outside of school usually.” He muttered. “Not just dates.”

“Hey speaking of school, why are you meeting guys online? There must be a bunch of guys who would date you at our school.” Loki said. “Why go through all this hassle?”

The corner of Thor’s mouth went up in a grimace and Loki tried not to stare at the lip gloss. He was failing. “Everyone at our school wants to date me just because of how well I did in football last year. They don’t actually want to get to know me. And most of them are in the closet. I don’t want to date someone in the closet.”

Loki could understand that. He hadn’t ever thought that it must be hard for Thor to date. Thor was nice and attractive, Loki thought he would be dating a lot more than this.

“I don’t know if everyone wants to date you just because you did football. That seems a bit unfair to say.” Loki said.

“It’s happened enough.” Thor’s tone said that he wanted to end the conversation.

Loki dropped it. He opened his phone up and checked his emails until Thor waved a breadstick under his nose.

Thor laughed when Loki bit into it and didn’t let go.

“You weren’t lying about loving these things.” Thor sounded genuinely amused. “Do you want some salad?”

“Ooh.” Loki said after he swallowed his bite of bread. “Of course!” he said.

Loki was munching on some lettuce leaves when he asked Thor, “So why did you quit football? I’m pretty sure you could do it and drama at the same time.”

Thor shook his head. “I didn’t want to do both. I liked football. But drama feels so much better. I love making art instead of tackling people all the time.” Thor sounded so happy. “I quit football. My Dad had never been so mad. He didn’t talk to me for a week. But he got over it eventually. He’s excited about this next show.” Thor’s face had this sad smile on it. It was a little heartbreaking.

Loki wants to pat him on his head or something else affectionate. But he isn’t sure if he and Thor are on touching terms like that. So he just clears his throat and tries not to shrink into his seat. “Dr. Strange is proud of you.”

Thor laughed weakly. “He is.” His smile lost its sadness. “He’s a good teacher. You should give him a chance.”

Loki just shrugged and sipped his water. “He is the guy who got me in your class. So I don’t know about him being a good teacher.”

Thor bumped his shoulder into Loki’s lightly. “Loki!” He laughed. “He thinks you have potential.”

Loki just rolled his eyes and bit the end of a breadstick off. “In high school everyone thinks you have potential.” He said darkly.

“You’re seventeen Loki. Too young to be so cynical.” Thor said as he helped himself to more salad.

Their water walked up to the table. “Are you two ready to order?”

“Not yet.” Thor said sweetly. It made Loki want to gag when he acted nice like that. But then Loki found himself staring at Thor’s lip gloss and wanted to hit his face with a bread stick.

“You know what every cynic needs?” Thor asked once they were alone again.

“I hesitate to ask.”

“An optimist.” Thor said as he held a finger up. “You should try to be more optimistic.”

“Alright Mr. Happy.” Loki said with another eye roll.

“Why did you bring your backpack?” Thor asked as he pointed at it.

“I didn’t go home. I just waited at the library.” Loki said. “It was nice. I got a lot of my homework done.”

“If you say so.” Thor said.

Loki noticed Thor reach into his pocket and pull his phone out to check the time. What he saw made his face fall.

Loki checked the time. It was seven thirty.

“What time did you agree to meet here?” Loki asked.

“Six thirty.” Thor said.

Loki’s eyes widened and he looked at the empty seats. Where was this guy?

Thor slumped over. “I don’t think he’s coming.” He sounded positively miserable.

“He might show up.” Loki tried to reason. “Why don’t you text him to see where he is?”

Thor did that and Loki sat there uncomfortably. Fifteen more minutes passed and Thor sighed. “I think this was all for bust.” He said sadly. “We can go.”

Loki looked at Thor’s sad face and felt his heart stir. He had seen Thor happy, mad, frustrated, put out, impatient, excited, patient and hopeful. But he had never seen Thor look sad before.

Thor Odinson was turning out to be totally different than what Loki thought. He was nice enough to take Loki shopping and not make fun of how incomplete Loki’s bedroom was. But at the same time always made fun of Loki for dressing like a homeless person. But he tried to encourage Loki at every chance and seemed to genuinely care about Loki.

In short Loki was fucked.

Loki stood up and took a step. Thor’s eyes following him curiously.

Loki sat in the seat across from Thor.

“You got all dressed and dolled up for a date.” Loki said as he rested his face on his hands and looked at Thor. “You should get to go on a date. I hope I’ll suffice.”

Thor blinked at him. “Really?” He said.

“Yeah. I’ll go on a date with you.” Loki said with a smile.

Thor scratched at the table cloth but he had a goofy smile on his face. “I bet you’ve never been stood up before. Everyone would be happy to date you.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Actually I don’t date a lot.” Loki said quietly. But loud enough for Thor to hear. “People find out I’m bisexual and it makes them uncomfortable. The girls think I’m gay and the boys think I’ll run off with anything with boobs.”

“That’s not true!” Thor said a little loudly. He looked around sheepishly and said a little quieter, “Who thinks that?”

“Tell me honestly Thor, would you date a bisexual?”

Thor thinks it over. “If I loved them I would.” He decides.

“Oh yeah?” Loki asked.

“Yeah.” Thor sounded serious.

The waiter showed up again and this time they made their orders. If he noticed that Loki had switched spots he didn’t say anything.

“So now that we’re on a date, should we read some Shakespeare?” Loki asked. “I have him in my backpack.”

Thor laughed quietly. “That’s not necessary. I know you hate Shakespeare.”

“It’s not him that I really hate.” Loki said as he looked at his water glass. “My Mom loved Shakespeare a lot. She studied theatre in college and would always read us Shakespeare when I was a kid. And when she walked out on us I wasn’t left with the healthiest relationship with the bard.”

Loki looked up to see Thor’s eyes were wide. And he looked a little sick. “Oh Loki…” He said and then leaned forward. “I didn’t know. If I’d known I would never have had you in the play… Why didn’t you say something?”

“It’s okay.” Loki said with surprise. He had just wanted to open up a little bit. After Thor told him about his Dad, Loki thought it was only fair to tell him about his Mom. “It’s cathartic honestly. Acting in a Shakespearian play. And it’s fitting, because my Mom always hated _Much Ado about Nothing._ So the fact that I’m in it is a little funny.”

“Well you’ll be amazing at it.” Thor said honestly. “It’s a shame that she won’t see you.”

“Nah.” Loki said nonchalantly. “I haven’t seen her in years. And I don’t think I want to.”

The waiter brought their food then and Loki’s eyes lit up when he saw his pasta. He loved Italian.

After Loki had taken a few bites and savored the flavor Thor spoke.

“You know. Next semester we’ll be doing a melodrama for the first two months.” He said. “I think you would have a lot of fun in it.”

“What’s a melodrama?” Loki asked as he stabbed a breadstick into his pasta sauce.

“It’s extremely clichéd. Ours will be a western. There’s always a damsel in distress. Always a bumbling hero. A drunk. And a villain. And I think you would make a great villain.”

Loki blinked. He’d never heard ‘villain’ used as a compliment. But Thor looked so sincere that Loki believed him.

“I’ll think about it.” Loki doesn’t know about another semester of drama. He’s pretty sure people like Sif and Steve Rogers would like it if he quit and never went back.

The conversation flowed easily until they were finished and Loki followed Thor out of the restaurant.

Once they were in Loki’s driveway Thor turned to Loki and his face was a mix of emotions.

“Thanks for going with me Loki.” He said quietly.

“You’re welcome.” Loki said.

Thor looked like he had something else to say. But when he opened his mouth all he said was, “Good night. I’ll see you Monday.”

Loki was remembered his words. _No kissing tonight!_ But he figured that Thor didn’t want to kiss him anyway. They were friends.

“See you Monday.” Loki said. He watched Thor drive away and took his bag of breadsticks in to give to Helblindi.


End file.
